The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Tolbooth
Tolbooth
Crail is a former royal burgh on the south coast of the East Neuk of Fife. This report focuses on the tolbooth, situated near the Marketgate. The earliest part of the tolbooth is the lower part of the tower, which has been claimed to date to about 1517. Whether this is correct, it is certain that work on the tolbooth, recorded as the ‘bigging off ane towbuth’ was ordered by the burgh council in 1598. An armorial panel survives which is inscribed with the date 160[-], which might refer to the completion of the tower. Small alterations were undertaken in the 18th century, which included the insertion of a S doorway, the lintel of which has the date 1757 carved on it. The upper windows of the tower were put in in 1776. By 1814 the tolbooth was said to be in an ‘old and ruinous state’, which resulted in extensive building work, including a large extension. Built into the S exterior wall in the west section, thought to have been part of this work, is a 12th-century scallop capital and base with moulded profile.